Question

What impact do you think the following events will have on long run economic growth? Why?

Answer 1

Answer:

a) Seizing the farms from his political rivals, and giving them to his friends, even when they do not know about farming, will result in less economic growth, because the human capital employed in farming is now of less quality. If things turn sour, a famine could even result (there have been many examples of this kind of situation throughout history).

b) This kind of red-tape will result in less economic growth, because investments that could have been made during the current year, will be postponed at least one year due to the bureaucracy.

c) The government of Tempestia is improving the judiciary, granting it independence and credibility. This will result in more economic growth because now both citizens, and international investors have more confidence in the country, since they feel that their property rights will be enforced, giving them an incentive to invest and take risks.

d) This kind of protectionist policies will likely result in less economic growth because the lack of international trade makes things more expensive for consumers, keeping their incomes from growing, and also because protectionism leads to the misallocation of resources by keeping afloat inefficient economic sectors that under a free trade system would otherwise collapse to give way to more efficient sectors.